ITA. Actually Rachael did about the same as she did at World's. I can't comment on Lepisto's performance, if she should or should not have been ahead of her (NBC didn't show it), but one of the people ahead of her this year who wasn't ahead of her last year was Mirai, who wasn't at World's last year.

Frankly, I am disgusted at the animosity towards Rachael. I agree she didn't have the best long program music and costume, but I doubt she choreographed it herself. Someone on her team let her down by trying to make her skate to music better suited for a much more delicate girl, but Rachael did nothing wrong. She didn't fall, she didn't make any errors at all visible to the naked eye, she skated to her blah music in her blah costume about as good as anyone could have. Frankly, her artistry was way above Miki Ando's, yet nobody carries on about her. Oh, but she's a beautiful Asian girl, but Rachael is an average looking Caucasian, along with those other villianesses of figure skating, Kimmie and Sarah. My bad.

You know, if you want to undo a great point, accuse people of racism when it's not necessary. That's a surefire method to make yourself ignored. I hope you teach at the Elvis Stoijko School of Communication

Overscored:
-Evan Lysacek SP (Plushenko and Takahashi deserved a wider margin of a lead)
-All the ladies (but I admit YuNa a little more than the others, particularly LP; I think the judges got carried away;145 would have been sufficiently proportionally boosted and deserving--adjusting SP and LP, I would have given her 220-221 total score still)
-Dom/Shabs OD, that was hideous. I admit their CD was the best (from my amateur, non-technical eyes), but just for the ugliness that was their OD, they should not have podium'd

But the triple axel is not just one jump. It's the most difficult jump for women and it's special. So in that sense, it should bear a little more weight. Joannie's program in my opinion was a bit overscored. I would have placed Mirai over her in terms of overall quality.

I agree. You can't really compare it to the quad for men, because the Men have been trying and landing them for years, often multiple quads in the same program. The number of ladies who even tried triple axels can be counted on two hands, the number who landed them on one. It is a great techincal feat...landing three in the same even and landing them clean is amazing.

But she's a chronic flutzer. She switched to the inside edge right at take off every single time. They deliberately not called her on that. Yukari can be borderline, but Fumie is also a chronic flutzer.

Anyway, just watched Rachael Flatt on the Terry Gannon Preview/Review show.
Bezic couldn't believe Flatt's flips were downgraded based on the fact that she was able to land a 3T after that. Peter and Kristi said they didn't see the underrotation at all and were very surprised.
Peter asked Flatt about the UR calls.
She said she was disappointed, she hasn't been called on the flips for a very long time. But it's for her to work on and make sure it's not an issue. and will fix it by worlds. It's something to take in stride at this time.
Asked how did she stay consistent.
She said she trained very hard and stayed confident and focused.
Asked about Stanford.
She said she got accepted after the opening ceremony. Her mom got the letter and thought it was just one of the spam mails the schools (read WashU in effing St. Louis) sent but when opened, it's an acceptance letter. This is definitely an "early write" from Stanford, accepting their "top" candidates. OMG. Early write from Stanford is a big deal because it means they really like you. She's waiting for Harvard, Princeton, Duke. Interesting, no mentioned of Yale.
She has 2 English sheepdogs, Fred and Ethel, from the Lucy Show. She's well spoken, expressed herself very clearly. I think she's one of the best technical skaters from the US. I'm so impressed by Rachael. Definitely will be stalking her on facebook.

Congrat, Flatt. You're the winner in my book.

You come off like a such a stalker. It's actually a little bit creepy....

Anyway, I admire Rachael's academic ability and I think its wonderful she can balance both skating and school. However, quite frankly, what should her academics, dogs, acceptance into Stanford, or supeior oratory skills have to do with her skating? The judges need to take into account her skating and ONLY her skating. These other things are irrelevant.

Frankly, I am disgusted at the animosity towards Rachael. I agree she didn't have the best long program music and costume, but I doubt she choreographed it herself. Someone on her team let her down by trying to make her skate to music better suited for a much more delicate girl, but Rachael did nothing wrong. She didn't fall, she didn't make any errors at all visible to the naked eye, she skated to her blah music in her blah costume about as good as anyone could have. Frankly, her artistry was way above Miki Ando's, yet nobody carries on about her. Oh, but she's a beautiful Asian girl, but Rachael is an average looking Caucasian, along with those other villianesses of figure skating, Kimmie and Sarah. My bad.

Yeah, just reading by their posts, I honestly agree that her looks seem to explain a lot of these posters' dislike of hers and sometimes it's a bit too hard on her.

ITA. Actually Rachael did about the same as she did at World's. I can't comment on Lepisto's performance, if she should or should not have been ahead of her (NBC didn't show it), but one of the people ahead of her this year who wasn't ahead of her last year was Mirai, who wasn't at World's last year.

Frankly, I am disgusted at the animosity towards Rachael. I agree she didn't have the best long program music and costume, but I doubt she choreographed it herself. Someone on her team let her down by trying to make her skate to music better suited for a much more delicate girl, but Rachael did nothing wrong. She didn't fall, she didn't make any errors at all visible to the naked eye, she skated to her blah music in her blah costume about as good as anyone could have. Frankly, her artistry was way above Miki Ando's, yet nobody carries on about her. Oh, but she's a beautiful Asian girl, but Rachael is an average looking Caucasian, along with those other villianesses of figure skating, Kimmie and Sarah. My bad.

Ahh, ok. I think you are misunderstanding the issues many people, myself included have with Rachael, and it has nothing to do about the way she looks and everything to do with the way she SKATES. And Rachael isn't average looking she's actually a total cutie. My problems with her skating are: her speed (lack thereof), her posture (slumped shoulders), her artistry (not the most flexible or expressive). I actually really like Rachael's SP and think she does a good job showing emotion there, plus her costume is very flattering, she plays up her bubbly persona, her footwork sequence is great, and the upbeat music makes it seem like she's skating faster. My biggest issue is that her LP really does not suit her style of skating - Rachael is a powerful jumper who can pull off a cutesy program easily, but when she skates to soft, slow music she just comes off as boring. Her style and build are similar to that of Alena Leonova and I think if Rachael had a jazzy LP set to Chicago or some other showtune music, her efforts would be more appreciated and she'd come off as a better skater. I really do like her SP quite a bit because it suits her, but I feel her LP highlights her weaknesses rather than showing off her strengths.

As for Mirai, Lepisto, Ando and if they deserved to be higher than Rachael, I will admit that being beautiful can help a skater earn a better placement but feel like this is very subtle and doesn't go the opposite way, ie a skater won't get pushed down lower because she isn't a knockout. I just think Lepisto, Mirai and to a lesser extent Miki all had programs that really suited their skating styles and emphasized their strengths. Mirai is cute and sassy, Laura elegant and upbeat, Miki serious and dramatic. If Mirai had skated to music like Yuna's Gershwin in the LP, I bet she would have seemed boring, or if Lepisto had skated to Chicago like Alena I'm sure we'd all be scratching our heads, or if Miki skated to Romeo and Juliet it would have been totally flat - the thing is, they didn't chose ill-fitting music for their LPs and Rachael did.

I actually quite enjoyed Rachael's 'Romantic Rhapsody' free program a few years ago. That was soft and elegant. I will agree, however, that this season's free program to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is not suitable for her.

I actually quite enjoyed Rachael's 'Romantic Rhapsody' free program a few years ago. That was soft and elegant. I will agree, however, that this season's free program to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is not suitable for her.

I actually like that program of Rachael's too, but even though it was soft I thought she showed more personality. She did it at Worlds last year. But her LP for most of last year as well was not getting her the best results she probably could get because it was a little slow and boring.

You come off like a such a stalker. It's actually a little bit creepy....

Anyway, I admire Rachael's academic ability and I think its wonderful she can balance both skating and school. However, quite frankly, what should her academics, dogs, acceptance into Stanford, or supeior oratory skills have to do with her skating? The judges need to take into account her skating and ONLY her skating. These other things are irrelevant.

Oh? Case in point: Joannie Rochette, Mirai Nagasu. Tell me the judges were not generous to both of these girls for their ordeals.
Quite frankly, they have nothing to do with her skating, but it makes me enjoy her skating a lot more. Understand?

Oh? Case in point: Joannie Rochette, Mirai Nagasu. Tell me the judges were not generous to both of these girls for their ordeals.
Quite frankly, they have nothing to do with her skating, but it makes me enjoy her skating a lot more. Understand?

Um, no. I was a Joannie Rochette doubter before this olympics (and obviously you were by your really nasty "Will Joannie Rochette bomb" post). But she put down two great skates. They were full of emotion, full of class, grace and she was pretty much clean (take away a few bobbles) If anything, her mother's death turned on a switch on her. I don't think I can explain it.

As for Mirai, we barely heard much about her mom except before her skate for like five seconds. And no I don't think the judges were gifting her either. She has a beautiful line and flow to her skating and you need that just as much as her jumps. And she skated clean. I think Rachael was underscored, but I don't think it's right to assume that Mirai was overscored. She put down a better performance than Miki and Laura but not as well as Rochette. I think if anyone was overscored, it was Miki. Talk about a snoozer of a program.

Um, no. I was a Joannie Rochette doubter before this olympics (and obviously you were by your really nasty "Will Joannie Rochette bomb" post). But she put down two great skates. They were full of emotion, full of class, grace and she was pretty much clean (take away a few bobbles) If anything, her mother's death turned on a switch on her. I don't think I can explain it.

As for Mirai, we barely heard much about her mom except before her skate for like five seconds. And no I don't think the judges were gifting her either. She has a beautiful line and flow to her skating and you need that just as much as her jumps. And she skated clean. I think Rachael was underscored, but I don't think it's right to assume that Mirai was overscored. She put down a better performance than Miki and Laura but not as well as Rochette. I think if anyone was overscored, it was Miki. Talk about a snoozer of a program.

Geez, I found both of Miki's programs close to unwatchable. I like Miki at times but this whole season was a downer. I blame Morozov and think Miki is still a good skater but needs to have her strengths emphasized with the highlight on her athleticism and not the mock artistry of this season.

Geez, I found both of Miki's programs close to unwatchable. I like Miki at times but this whole season was a downer. I blame Morozov and think Miki is still a good skater but needs to have her strengths emphasized with the highlight on her athleticism and not the mock artistry of this season.

Yeah but the thing is, Miki's athleticism is draining. She used to be a good jumper but she's lost so much weight these past few years she can barely rotate her triples now! Seriously I was a little worried watching her on Thursday, she looked borederline too thin.

Yeah but the thing is, Miki's athleticism is draining. She used to be a good jumper but she's lost so much weight these past few years she can barely rotate her triples now! Seriously I was a little worried watching her on Thursday, she looked borederline too thin.

Yeah, that was pretty obviously when she tried to do the 3Z-3L. Ugggh....it wasn't even close to rotated.